Lake Worth Christian Falls One Game Short 48-33

LAKELAND -- For the Lake Worth Christian Defenders, all but one dream came true.

But the dream that didn`t come true was probably the biggest. The Defenders lost 48-33 to Graceville in the 1A title game Saturday evening at the Lakeland Civic Center.

Defenders center Chris Desiderio was held to just 11 points and five rebounds, his lowest totals of the year in both categories.

``Graceville was just too quick for us out there,`` Desiderio said.

Graceville coach Donahue Johnson said his defense was the key to the title win.

``The 1-2-2 press really bothered them and made them turn it over. This is probably the best defensive team I`ve ever had,`` he said.

Maybe it was the pre-game talk from former University of Florida and now Chicago Bear Neal Anderson that got the Tigers fired up. Anderson, along with Tampa Bay Buccaneer Mike Clarke both played basketball and football at the panhandle school and cheered the Tigers on to victory Saturday.

Graceville led from start to finish in a game that was the lowest-scoring championship game in any classification since 1964. In that year, Zephyrhills defeated Mount Dora 33-29 in the Class B (now Class AA) title game.

The Tigers led 12-6 at the end of the first period, relying on the inside play of Dallas Johnson and Darrell Mitchell.

Lake Worth Christian twice pulled to within three points in the second period at 17-14 and 19-16 before Graceville hit a 15-footer with 1:06 remaining to take a 21-16 lead into halftime.

In the third quarter, Graceville scored eight of the first 10 points to lead 29-19 before the Defenders scored the last six points of the period to cut the margin to 31-27.

Graceville took command in the fourth period, allowing Lake Worth Christian just two fourth-period baskets, a pair of 3-pointers by Mike Kooi and Chris Kibben.

Andy Davis and Dallas Johnson led Graceville with 12 points each. Darrell Mitchell added 11 for the Tigers, who finished the season at 29-3.

Lake Worth Christian ends the year at 24-6, the best in the school`s history.